The Big Questions All Newlyweds Face—and How to Deal

You've conquered actually getting married (whew!), but you're not at happily ever after just yet. Turns out, experts say the first year of marriage can be one of the toughest you'll face as a couple. "Until the wedding, the idea of marriage is just an idea," says Tracy McMillan, author of Why You're Not Married…Yet. Now that you've switched your relationship status from "engaged" to "married," here are the most perplexing problems you'll encounter in marriage year one.

How to deal with money as newlyweds

Get a copy of your credit scores at annualcreditreport.com, which will show your credit standing without requiring any additional feeds or "credit monitoring" programs, says Kim Fusaro, marriage and weddings expert for Glamour.com's own Save the Date blog. Come to the table with research about how much you each owe (credit card bills, student debt, car loans), what your month-to-month expenses are, and what you want to save for (a house? vacations? erasing debt?). "The initial conversation is a good time to touch on your plans for the future. Will one of you quit working once you have babies? When do you hope to retire?" Fusaro says. She adds, "Don't feel obligated to combine all your money. A joint account that you each contribute to is great for vacations and big purchases, but it's not wrong' if you want to keep most (or even all) of your money separate or to combine everything."